


I Go Home to the Coast

by HolleringHawk65



Series: Uliro Week 2017 [3]
Category: Voltron Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Ulaz is the one with nightmares about something happening to Shiro, Uliro Week 2017, implied sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 11:30:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11035299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolleringHawk65/pseuds/HolleringHawk65
Summary: Day 2: DreamsA look into Shiro and Ulaz's dreams and how they affect their lives





	I Go Home to the Coast

**Author's Note:**

> So all of these fics are technically in the same AU where Ulaz is found out to be alive after they find Shiro post S2 and Kolivan just chills out on the castle because why not lol. Thace and Antok are still dead though :-(

It feels like a dream, the first time they’re together. Honestly, Shiro woke up and chalked the memory of it to exhaustion until he tried to move and felt both Ulaz’s arm around him and a very uncomfortable ache.

It’s like a dream that they both feel like they can remember with crystal clear clarity. Shiro can feel the hard, cold, surface of the shower stall against his back, can feel his legs wrapped around Ulaz’s waist, the surprisingly sweet taste that came with kissing him. Ulaz remembers the feeling of Shiro’s bare skin underneath his hands. At first, he was worried that it would trigger unpleasant things for either of them, but it didn’t, and he could touch Shiro as much as the brunet would allow him (which, according to him, would be for forever).

Whenever the two are apart, that night always makes it into their dreams, as if the universe doesn’t want them to be lonely.

They have other dreams, of course. Shiro has dreams of Earth and his time in captivity and Ulaz is always there to calm him down, when the dreams start to affect how he sleeps.

Shiro has a favorite dream though. It occurs from time to time, almost always exactly the same. It’s a dream where he and Ulaz have a little home in the suburbs of somewhere; he assumes it’s Earth, but that’s never directly said and he can’t imagine forcing the Galra to live among humans as the only one of his kind. But, it’s a dream, so maybe it is Earth. The house is the whole deal; white picket fence, gardens in the front and back, a two car garage, two stories, with all of the shutters freshly painted. Inside is nice and cozy without being too crowded, and there’s pictures on the walls of all of their friends, where they all look happy too.

In the dream, Shiro isn’t sure where the Black Lion is. He assumes that it’s okay, and would come to him if the time for fighting again ever came. In any case, Ulaz is with him, and judging by the rings that they wear, they’re blissfully married.

So, in a way, the dream is a little too perfect.

The Galra don’t really dream and if they do they’re more likely to hear things instead of seeing them. Ulaz doesn’t get dreams of a nice, perfect happy ending like Shiro does. He dreams about Shiro being taken hostage again, about the Druids finishing their experiments on him, about him having to fight in the arena, about them just being apart indefinitely. He wakes up with labored breathing, but he doesn’t wake Shiro up, even as he gets up to train. He works himself to the point of exhaustion so that he doesn’t have to think or dream. He starts to fear that his dreams will come true and he’s not sure how he would handle that, if Shiro was captured again. Surely, it’d be very difficult to do, so in a way it’s a foolish thought, that Shiro will be taken away, but it’s there.

And so Ulaz trains on, trying to make himself the best he can be so that there really won’t be any way for someone to take Shiro away from him.

\---

In the middle of a meal, Ulaz suddenly falls forward, his face landing fully into the plate full of space goo. The sound jerks everyone’s attention to him instantly. Nobody says a word for a few moments, even when Ulaz makes the snuffling sound that is the equivalent of a Galra snoring.

“Hunk, did you put another sedative in the food goo by mistake?” Keith asks, pushing his plate away. The question is somewhat redundant, as Keith is over halfway done his plate and fine, while Ulaz had only been picking his. Still, people can see Kolivan also move his plate away before he gets up to walk up and check on Ulaz.

“No! I didn’t mess with the food goo. Who would mess with food goo that’s tried to kill them?”

“Dude, it’s been like, months since the castle attacked us,” Lance reminded him.

“Yeah, and the possessed food goo is still a frequent guest in my nightmares!”

Shiro had to smirk before turning his attention to Ulaz and Kolivan. The latter had just finished cleaning Ulaz’s face off with a napkin and looked as though he were about to lift Ulaz up.

“Is he okay?” Shiro asked, standing up to try to help Kolivan.

“He has exhausted himself. A day on bed rest and he will be fine.” The older Galra easily picked up Ulaz, despite his lankier frame.

Shiro frowned as the two of them started to walk. Given the door they went out of, it would seem that Kolivan intended to put Ulaz in his own, rather unused, room. “He goes to bed with me every night, how could he be exhausted?”

“He may go to bed with you, but does he stay in the bed with you?” Kolivan seems irritated, and if Shiro is being honest, it’s making him feel very small at the moment. “Ulaz has been training at night, alone. And then he trains with you and the other Paladins. And, on top of that, he has the chores that have been assigned to him.”

“How come you haven’t stopped him or talked to him or something? Why have you just sat back and watched as he works himself to the bone, if you’ve known?”

Kolivan let out an audible growl and stops walking. “You think I haven’t tried to stop him? Do you think I enjoy watching him, when I know he’s plagued by nightmares about losing you?”

The hallway suddenly seems deathly quiet. “What?”

Kolivan simply shakes his head. The way he looks down at Ulaz at that moment and the way he’s carrying him all seemed to scream something between them that was so personal, not even Shiro or Allura could have known. “Ulaz has lost many people over his young life. I imagine that he cares about you greatly and would prefer to not see harm come to you. His rationale must be that if he becomes a better fighter, there is a smaller chance of him losing you.”

Shiro can’t find the words to say as they start to walk again. They don’t walk to Ulaz’s room, but to Kolivan’s. It’s a “guest” room designated for someone of very high status, with decor that matches that sentiment. Kolivan lays Ulaz down on the bed and then brings a very soft looking blanket over to him, tucking him in. “I will watch him tonight, Shiro. Please, go get some rest of your own. It would not do to have you be exhausted as well.”

Shiro hesitates. “Is there anything that we can do to stop the nightmares?”

“We can defeat the Empire.” After a moment of silence, Kolivan adds: “Dreams are too powerful for us, we cannot suppress them without inhibiting some other component of ourselves. The most we can hope for is that the nightmares will work themselves out.”

“Okay. Good night, Kolivan.”

“Good night, Shiro.”

\---

When Ulaz wakes up, he’s very confused. First, he has to address how comfortable he feels. It’s as though he’s wrapped up in the blanket made of the softest wool. It smells nice and familiar -- but nothing like him or Shiro.

He sits up and realizes that’s because he’s in Kolivan’s room. The other Blade is sitting on a chair, a pillow supporting his head. He wakes up then, as if he had sensed Ulaz had moved.

“What happened?”

“You passed out during dinner. Your face landed completely in the food goo, it was rather amusing.”

Ulaz huffed. “But why am I here? In your room?” Why not his own, or Shiro’s? Did he forget that he had an argument with Shiro? The idea sent panic through him and he involuntarily whimpered.

Kolivan reached out to him. The simple touch calmed him down and Ulaz sighed. “I just wanted to watch you, to make sure you wouldn’t get up and deprive yourself of much needed sleep.”

“I just don’t want to lose anyone again, if I can help it.” He said it mournfully, in a way.

Kolivan doesn’t respond. He understands that feeling, after having Antok and Thace die so closely together. He wants to protect Allura as much as he can, but there’s only so much that he can do. He only wishes that Ulaz would understand that. Shiro had already disappeared once, Kolivan didn’t want to see what that would do to Ulaz happen if that happened again.

The two are quiet until Ulaz speaks, his voice still soft. “If I collapse, there are no dreams.”

Kolivan nods. He knows the feeling all too well, despite what he would like others to believe. There is no such thing as a good leader who is unaffected by the loss of his comrades.”It would help no one, especially Shiro, if you were to collapse in battle.”

“So you want me to suffer?” He seemed slightly incredulous.

“Never. You have to make peace with the dead and celebrate with the living, especially those that you care about.”

\---

“Are you okay?” It’s night again, and Ulaz has walked into Shiro’s room. They hadn’t seen each other all day because Kolivan had been serious about the bed rest. “I was worried about you.”

Ulaz leans down and simply kisses Shiro instead of answering him straight away. “I’ll be fine. How was training today? Has Pidge improved with the one kick that we wanted her to practice?” 

Shiro laughed. “You’ve only been gone for a day. And not even really gone, just in a different part in the castle. But yes, she has improved a little bit.”

“Good, every little bit of improvement helps.” He sits down on Shiro’s bed and watches as Shiro gets ready for bed. “Is there something bothering you?”

“Nothing, really.” Silence ensued for a few more moments. “Were you and Kolivan ever…”

His ears twitched. “Ever what?”

Shiro’s cheeks flushed a dark red, clashing with the color of his scar. “Together, like us. I mean, it doesn’t change anything, it’s just that last night, he seemed so familiar with you. Like he used to take care of you.”

“Taking care of someone does not equate to what you and I do.” The statement is clearly avoiding the actual question. Ulaz looks down and picks at a fuzzle on Shiro’s blanket. “It was a long time ago, before I went onto the ship as a surgeon.”

“Have you ever thought about getting back together with him?”

“Returning to Kolivan used to be what would get me through all of the horrors that I committed. So yes, I have, but not since after you and I escaped. It is you that I hope to spend the rest of my life with.”

Shiro lets out a sigh of relief. “I’d like that.”

At that moment, they want to tell each other their dreams. Shiro wants to tell Ulaz about Earth and all of the things that they could together there; he could meet his parents and they could go to all of the places that Shiro has told him about, and try all of the different foods. Ulaz wants to tell Shiro about his nightmares, to get them off of his chest. If he admitted his fears to him, there’s an opportunity for them to move past it all, for him to have a restful night of sleep.

But, as Shiro gets into bed with Ulaz, it doesn’t feel like the right thing for either of them to do.

\---

Somehow, that night Ulaz dreams of something nice. There’s pictures, too, which he thinks of as odd. It’s just a nice, quiet, scene. Something that any Blade in their right mind would want. There’s a gentle breeze blowing, causing the tuft of white hair on Shiro’s head to bounce around. The air is nice and salty, below them is a blanket over sand, and he can hear the surf beating against the shore.

All of their friends are there, even the Holts and the dead. Ulaz almost feels like he could cry when he sees Antok, his mask off, sitting next to Thace. Next to Allura, Coran, and Kolivan is a man that, given his white hair, he can only assume is King Alfor. There’s another woman with them, maybe Allura’s mother?

Shiro just looks so blissfully happy. They’re surrounded but everyone they care about, and they’re right next to each other, and they seem happy. He couldn’t think of something better.

They wake up together, Shiro extending himself to give Ulaz a soft kiss. “Did you have a dream about a beach?”

The fact that they could be sharing dreams now didn’t really surprise. It would seem that anything could happen on the Castle of Lions.


End file.
